The rim or wheel of a vehicle is the outer circular section of the metal on which the inside edge of a tire is mounted onto the vehicle. Aesthetic wheels have become a large part of vehicle customization and many individuals utilize unique and different wheel designs to illustrate their own identities and personalities. With so many different types of wheel designs, size and colors to choose from, it is important to develop unique, new, and quality wheels that are cost-effective to produce.
Most prior art vehicle wheels are made from steel or other metal alloys. Typically, a metal plate is bent to produce a sleeve with the two free edges of the sleeve welded together. Once the sleeve is welded, a portion of the wheel is angled-out to form the rim which supports a tire. Additionally, the rim is required to have openings that fit the center hub of the vehicle and a set of vehicle lug nuts which penetrate the rim from the wheel hub. The outer surface of the wheel typically has a cylindrical geometry to fit inside the rim.
In order to reduce costs and allow for easier production of vehicle wheels, one-piece wheels are preferred. One-piece wheels are manufactured by casting the wheel from a piece of metal. Casting has the advantage of being less time consuming, and more efficient than other types of wheel production. Wheel casting is performed at one time and does not require different pieces to be fit together, therefore, it is preferred to other types of wheel production. However, one disadvantage of cast wheel production is that casting typically does not include the aesthetic features that might be found in a wheel forging processes.
Wheels are also produced by forging a metal section into a shape that is utilized as a rim. Forging has progressed as an art and a tool for producing parts that may be utilized in many different devices, including vehicle wheel technology. More modern forging techniques now involve presses or hammers powered by compressed air, electricity, hydraulics and the like. The air, electronic and hydraulic presses allow for quick, accurate and efficient forging of a wheel and can quickly cool the material after the forging process is complete. Utilizing forging processes can produce a product that is much stronger and more resilient than other types of production, such as cast or machined products and further may produce wheels that have very different and unique aesthetic designs and typically forged rims are made from multiple metal pieces.
There are several types of forging processes that are currently utilized to produce a wheel. The two most common types are hot and cold forging. Most metal wheels are forged hot because the wheels are typically made of either iron or an iron alloy. This is done primarily because if hardening occurs during cold forging, hard materials such as iron and steel would become extremely difficult to work with. Additionally, elements like steel can be strengthened by different methods other than cold forging. Often times, hot forging is utilized to strengthen products by adding additional elements to the product to produce a stronger, more resilient by-product.
However, one problem with utilizing wheel making processes, is that manufacturing and producing coated wheels, especially colored coated wheels may be difficult, costly and prone to errors. Moreover, another problem with wheel design is the addition of rivets to the wheel design which typically must be performed separately from the casting and/or forging process, thereby requiring time and effort which increases cost to both the manufacturer and the consumer. The forging process can also be expensive and because the number of pieces required are often multiples, it takes both time and money to produce the desired aesthetic appearance.
What is needed is an improved wheel making process which can be utilized to cast a wheel that includes colored elements, yet still provide the desired aesthetic appearance without the cost normally associated therewith. A further need exists for a wheel producing process that utilizes a computer numeral control (CNC) machine to prepare and produce a unique cast, colored vehicle wheel.
A search of the prior art did not disclose literature or patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention.